| Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) |
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|---|---|
| Predecessor |
Incorporated Society of Liverpool Accountants, Institute of Accountants in London and three others |
| Formation | May 11, 1880 |
| Legal status | Chartered body |
| Membership | 136,000 |
| Member's designations | A.C.A. and F.C.A. |
| Governing body | Council |
| IFAC member since | October 7, 1977 |
| Website | www.icaew.com |
The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) was established by a Royal Charter in 1880.[1] It has over 130,000 members. Over 15,000 of these members live and work outside the UK. The Institute also has some 9,000 students.
The Institute is a member of the Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies (CCAB), formed in 1974 by the major accountancy professional bodies in the UK and Ireland. The fragmented nature of the accountancy profession in the UK is in part due to the absence of any legal requirement for an accountant to be a member of one of the many Institutes, as the term accountant does not have legal protection. However, a person must belong to the ICAEW, ICAS or ICAI to hold themselves out as a chartered accountant in the UK (although there are other chartered bodies of British qualified accountants).
The ICAEW has two offices in the UK; the main one is in Moorgate, London and the other in Central Milton Keynes, in the newly built Hub:MK complex. In 2009 it also opened regional offices in Singapore and Dubai to support its members in Asia,[2] followed by Beijing in 2011.[3]
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Until the mid-nineteenth century the role of accountants in England and Wales was restricted to that of bookkeepers in that accountants merely maintained records of what other business people had purchased and sold. However, with the growth of the limited liability company and large scale manufacturing and logistic in Victorian Britain a demand was created for more technically proficient accountants to deal with the increasing complexity of accounting transactions dealing with depreciation of assets, inventory valuation and the Companies legislation being introduced.
To improve their status and combat criticism of low standards, accountants in the cities of Britain formed professional bodies. The ICAEW was formed from the five of these associations that existed in England prior to its establishment by Royal Charter in May 1880.[1]
The Institute headquarters, Chartered Accountants' Hall, in the City of London, was designed in the Italian Renaissance style by John Belcher in 1890. It was built by Colls & Sons.[4] It is widely regarded as one of the finest examples of Victorian Baroque architecture.
In 1948, the institute received a Supplemental Charter.
In 1957 the ICAEW merged with the Society of Incorporated Accountants (founded in 1885 as the Society of Incorporated Accountants and Auditors).[1]
In 2005 the ICAEW sought to merge with the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) and the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA). However, this project proved unsuccessful. The Institute also announced at this time that it was considering dropping the reference to England and Wales in its title to become the Institute of Chartered Accountants. However, this plan was also withdrawn following objections from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland.
The Institute introduced a new syllabus in 2007. In order to make it more appealing to prospective students the policy of time-barring students has been removed and the mandatory examinations will become more flexible based on a modular structure. In addition to paper based assessments, there are now computer based assessments of objective test questions (multiple choice).
To be admitted to membership of the ICAEW, applicants must generally complete 450 days of relevant work experience (training) and pass a series of examinations. The work experience lasts between three and five years and must be with an employer or employers approved by the Institute for training. The examinations are in two stages, professional stage (twelve papers) and advanced stage (two papers and a case study, which must be taken in the final year of training).
Members of equivalent bodies in other European Economic Area countries and Switzerland may also be admitted to membership after passing an aptitude test, provided they are a citizen of an EEA state or Switzerland.
The Institute has mutual recognition agreements in place with:
ICAEW members may be admitted to full membership of the above institutions after passing an aptitude test or subject to other specific requirements.
Starting from 8 January 2010, ICAEW introduced a new "Pathways to Membership" programme whereby it offers the ACA designation on passing its Examination of Experience and sponsorship by ICAEW member or under ICAEW's ATE training environment, to members (qualified through normal examination and training route) of the following accounting institutes:
However, AICPA and MICPA members who join the ICAEW under the Pathways to Membership scheme must maintain their home body membership.
ICAEW has signed Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) with accounting bodies in overseas countries. These bodies are The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB), Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan (ICAP) and Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Singapore (ICPAS). There is also a joint scheme in place to enable members of the Chinese Institute of Certified Public Accountants (CICPA) and the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants to qualify as ACA with ICAEW.[3] ICAEW is an affiliate of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of the Caribbean.[5]
The full ACA training programme is available in Cyprus, Greece, Malaysia, Mauritius, Romania and the Gulf states.
Members have the designation ACA (Associate Chartered Accountant) or FCA (Fellow Chartered Accountant) after their name.
Fellowship is intended to designate those who have achieved a higher level of professional experience. It is awarded, on application, to those members who have attained at least ten years of membership and who, at the date of application, have complied with the Institute's requirements on continuing professional development in the preceding three years and have no outstanding disciplinary charges against them.
The ICAEW has seven faculties, each run by an in-house team working together with members who are experts in their particular sector:
The Tax Faculty was the first to be formed in 1990; The monthly TAXline publication started in 1991, and an annual Technical Review (now Tax Planning) was first published in October 1992. The Tax Faculty joined the Confédération Fiscale Européenne (CFE) in 2001.
The Institute has 22 district societies, the largest of which is the London Society of Chartered Accountants (LSCA) with over 37,000 members. The LSCA has often taken the lead in making proposals for change,[6] and was instrumental in the formation of the influential Hundred Group of finance directors.
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